I heard a couple of things... one is Mosby didnt even front up to Court today.. to drop the charges... the poor prosecutors she dropped this nonsense on had to do that. Mosby just did the insane presser after. (Attention whore)Secondly there is talk of investigating WHY the family were awarded the 6.5 million. I dont suppose it can be recovered.. but the City Lawyers who went along with the settlement need to explain.. be held to account.

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I love the way she was upset that the accused had a constitutional right to a Judge or jury trial. The Judge flat out told them he was obligated to uphold the laws of the US and the state of Maryland.

Quote:

Williams, reading from prepared remarks, said prosecutors failed to meet their burden of proving the charges against Rice beyond a reasonable doubt, instead asking the court to rely on "presumptions or assumptions" — something it cannot do. He said the court "cannot be swayed by sympathy, prejudice or public opinion."

Based on the law, he said, the prosecution did not show that Rice acted in a "grossly negligent manner," required for a manslaughter conviction. It also did not show that Rice acted in an unreasonable way or was aware of and chose to ignore the substantial risk by placing Gray in a police van without a seat belt, which is required for reckless endangerment, he said. And, it did not show that Rice acted "corruptly," which is required for misconduct in office, he said.

Mosby hits back at criticism from former commissioner BattsJustin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby hit back at criticism from former police commissioner Anthony Batts as she continued a media blitz following the decision to drop charges in the Freddie Gray case.

Mosby said on WBAL's C4 Show that Batts was publicly spreading misinformation while the case was being investigated and that she warned him that he was exacerbating distrust.

"People are going to get angry about that and start burning things down," she recalled telling him.

She also reiterated claims that police weren't cooperating with the investigation or making questionable decisions in how they handled the case.

Batts, who was fired last July amid a soaring homicide rate, on Wednesday said Mosby was "incompetent, immature and vindictive." He said she was "in over her head" and has added more flaws to a broken justice system by prosecuting innocent officers "to prove a point."

I am wondering if Mosby's city-councilman hubby had a part in getting Batts fired? If so, she ruined this man's career. I hope he got a huge severance package, probably didn't match Gray's parents' payoff.

I tried to find out what he is doing now, and came across some interesting (to me) stuff.

He has his doctorate in Public Administration. I think Oakland PD would be more difficult to manage (going back decades) than Baltimore.

Batts was chief of police for the Californian cities of Oakland and Long Beach. He worked in the Long Beach Police Department for 27 years, rising to Chief of Police in 2002. Under Batts, homicides decreased 45% and overall crime decreased 13% in Long Beach.

After a brief period in a research post at Harvard, Batts became the police commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department on September 27, 2012. During his tenure in Baltimore, his team was able to implement reforms that led to dramatic reductions in all metrics used to assess police performance, including overall declines in all Part I crime numbers, excessive force objections, and citizen complaints.

The Sheriff already filed an affidavit that Mosby’s office conducted the investigation, so it looks like she blew absolute immunity, leaving “qualified good faith immunity” as the remaining hurdle. Evidence of “bad faith” and “actual malice” may toast Mosby. $200 K state law cap settlement x 5 or maybe 6 officers w/ confidentiality provisions may be viewed as a cheap way out of potentially massive bad publicity for Mosby. The bar complaint against Mosby might also be a lot harder for Mosby to handle with a judicial determination of bad faith and / or actual malice in police officer lawsuit(s).

An affidavit from a top Baltimore sheriff's office commander is raising new questions about State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's investigation into the death of Freddie Gray.

While Mosby has said her office conducted an independent investigation that included using city sheriff's deputies, the commander assigned to the case said in the affidavit he had "no involvement in the investigation whatsoever."

Maj. Samuel Cogen also said he was given evidence after the fact and informed of prosecutors' determination.

"I was ... presented with a narrative that formed the basis of the application for the statement of charges that I completed," said Cogen, who swore out the warrants. "The facts, information and legal conclusions contained within ... as well as the charges lodged against plaintiff came entirely from members of the State's Attorney's Office."

Cogen and Mosby are being sued by five of the six officers charged in Gray's arrest and death. Cogen's affidavit was filed in an effort to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Lt. Brian Rice, who alleges false arrest and defamation as a result of the charges filed against him.

The article "Officers cleared but still paying off bond debts" (Aug. 5) points out another injustice due to State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's politically influenced charges against the officers in the Freddie Gray case. Ten percent of $350,000 is $35,000! That is an extremely heavy burden for a member of the Baltimore Police Department. I suggest that Ms. Mosby pay those debts or at least pay them out of her departmental budget. How much did the Freddie Gray family get from the city of Baltimore? The answer is $6.4 million! There seems to be a lopsided justice here.

Baltimore Officer Acquitted in Freddie Gray Death to Get $127K in Back Payby Elisha Fieldstadt

The highest-ranking Baltimore police officer acquitted in the death of Freddie Gray will likely receive a six-figure sum in back pay.

Baltimore's Board of Estimates on Wednesday is set to consider a payment of nearly $127,000 for Lt. Brian S. Rice, which "represents the amount of salary that Mr. Rice would have earned for the period of May 1, 2015 through July 18, 2016," according to a board schedule.

This is wonderful news -- a start. It sounds like a lot, but don't you know his attorney fees are enormous?

If you think about the day of Gray's arrest. That officer got up and went to work as any other day, doing his job. ALL of them did. Then the arrest. And then he died. Can't remember who started the protests.Then the riots and burning buildings, drugs stolen from CVS, the standdown orders - OMG, the loss of toilet paper in Baltimore alone, was millions.

What a joke of a corrupted city if you really stop to think about it. The perfect place for Deray to work and live in his Soros paid-for home.

Why the DOJ believes its report on Baltimore Police will be different from all the othersKevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun

The new report that concludes the Baltimore Police Department has engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional, unjustified policing that has disproportionately affected black residents is not the first to lay out systemic problems in the department.

Former Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, who was fired shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice review began last year, had his own plan for reforms. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, the union that represents officers, has a plan, too. Activists, nonprofits, law enforcement think tanks and politicians also have weighed in over the years. And each new police commissioner in the city's long list of commissioners in recent decades has arrived with a strategy all his own.

But the DOJ report is different, and will have a far greater impact, for two reasons, according to Vanita Gupta, head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, which conducted the investigation.

First, it will be court enforced. Second, it will unfold over the course of many years — holding the city to certain standards and reform priorities that will not shift each time a new mayor is elected or a new commissioner takes the helm of the nation's eighth largest police force.

BALTIMORE – Three gunmen shot and wounded eight people including a 3-year-old girl on an east Baltimore street Saturday night, the city's police commissioner said, adding the suspects fled and that the victims were expected to survive.

The shooting erupted outside some rowhouses about 8:30 p.m. after the armed men converged on the group from different points, Davis told The Associated Press at the scene.

Davis said it was a premeditated act of retaliatory violence in response to a Labor Day weekend shooting in which a person was fatally shot and two others were wounded, including a pregnant woman. He did not immediately explain how investigators believed the shooting was linked to the earlier shooting.

Davis said the victims could have recognized the gunmen but authorities haven't immediately been able to identify the suspects and were still searching for them hours afterward.

According to investigators, the 13-year-old was shot by a 73-year-old private investigator and former Baltimore police officer who was sitting in his car, after the teen approached with a group of juveniles, opened the car door and brandished what appeared to be a handgun.

Officials say the teen was shot in the head and transported to Shock Trauma in critical condition. The incident took place around 3:45 p.m. in Carroll Park.

The 73-year-old man, who has not been identified, called police and remained on the scene after the shooting. He had a valid concealed weapon permit, investigators noted.

Police released a photo of the teen's handgun Wednesday night, which was found to be a realistic replica firearm.[...]Smith said the teen carjacking suspect was listed in critical but stable condition on Thursday.

"This is a 13-year-old, we've all been 13 and we've done some silly things," Smith said. "Maybe many of us have never done anything like this but when referring to this 13-year-old we need to be mindful of the fact that he committed a silly act and the consequences were substantial. There's absolutely no need for name calling, sad I have to stand up here and say that."

------------------------------------This article mentions a councilwoman who was assaulted by a 13 and 15 year old so I looked her up. I don't know any of the details but it happened the first week in December. Right now Baltimore Police are looking for two home burglars who shot the homeowner in the head (woman). Just too much bad news to cover.

Councilwoman Rikki Spector, 80

Last edited by Molly on Wed Jan 18, 2017 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

BALTIMORE — A judge is allowing parts of a federal lawsuit to proceed against the Baltimore City State's Attorney.

U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis has thrown out some of the claims against Marilyn Mosby, but allowing several others to go forward.

The judge dismissed the following claims: false arrest, false imprisonment, abuse of process, conspiracy, 14th Amendment violations, Section 1983 4th Amendment claims based on the presentation to the grand jury, and all claims against the state of Maryland.

The following claims remain pending: malicious prosecution, defamation, invasion of privacy, false light and Section 1983 4th Amendment claims. The last claim goes to the issue of whether the defendants have qualified immunity or absolute immunity.

A conference will be scheduled for future proceedings.

Lt. Brian Rice, Sgt. Alicia White and Officer William Porter are suing Mosby and Baltimore City sheriff's Maj. Sam Cogan. Cogan signed off on the statement of probable cause that led to the arrest of the officers in the Freddie Gray case.

Garbis heard arguments in October as to why the case should go forward or be dismissed. He issued his ruling Friday.

The Freddie Gray cops won again in a lawsuit against Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Ms. Mosby put six police officers on trial without the evidence to back up the charges. At first, critics said she over-charged the officers, but, in the end, the judge found there was no evidence to back up the charges.

A federal judge in Maryland has allowed a “malicious prosecution” case against Ms. Mosby to go forward because she acted as an independent prosecutor in the Freddie Gray case, the Baltimore Sun reported.

The officers are suing for malicious prosecution, invasion of privacy, false arrest, defamation, and civil rights violations. Those key charges will go forward.

Judge Marvin Garbis denied Mosby’s motion for a stay of all discovery in the case. That means Mosby may have to turn over evidence, including internal emails, to the plaintiffs.

Much of the judge’s ruling rests on the fact that the plaintiffs also sued Major Samuel Cogen of the Sheriff’s Department, who signed off on the charges Mosby’s office prepared.

Garbis ruled: “The discovery contemplated in the instant case is not ‘unnecessary,’ nor would it cause irreparable injury, because almost all of the same claims have been asserted against Cogen, who has not appealed.”

Usually prosecutors are immune from lawsuits. but not if they act as the investigator, the judge ruled.